2 Corinthians

Bible - American Standard Version (ASV)

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints that are in the whole of Achaia:

1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;

1:4 who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ.

< 1:6 But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:

1:7 and our hope for you is stedfast; knowing that, as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also are ye of the comfort.

1:8 For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction which befell [us] in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

1:9 yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead:

1:10 who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver: on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;

< 1:11 ye also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift bestowed upon us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf.

1:12 For our glorifying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

1:13 For we write no other things unto you, than what ye read or even acknowledge, and I hope ye will acknowledge unto the end:

1:14 as also ye did acknowledge us in part, that we are your glorying, even as ye also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.

1:15 And in this confidence I was minded to come first unto you, that ye might have a second benefit;

< 1:16 and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come unto you, and of you to be set forward on my journey unto Judaea.

1:17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I show fickleness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the yea yea and the nay nay?

1:18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you is not yea and nay.

1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, [even] by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yea and nay, but in him is yea.

1:20 For how many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea: wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us.

< 1:21 Now he that establisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God;

1:22 who also sealed us, and gave [us] the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

1:23 But I call God for a witness upon my soul, that to spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth.

1:24 Not that we have lordship over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for in faith ye stand fast.

3:1 Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?

3:2 Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men;

3:3 being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables [that are] hearts of flesh.

3:4 And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward:

3:5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;

< 3:6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

3:7 But if the ministration of death, written, [and] engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which [glory] was passing away:

3:8 how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory?

3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

3:10 For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth.

< 3:11 For if that which passeth away [was] with glory, much more that which remaineth [is] in glory.

3:12 Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech,

3:13 and [are] not as Moses, [who] put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away:

3:14 but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed [to them] that it is done away in Christ.

3:15 But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart.

< 3:16 But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, [there] is liberty.

3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.

4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not:

4:2 but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish:

4:4 in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn [upon them].

4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

< 4:6 Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;

6:12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own affections.

6:13 Now for a recompense in like kind (I speak as unto [my] children), be ye also enlarged.

6:14 Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?

6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever?

< 6:16 And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

6:17 Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you,

6:18 And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

7:1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

7:2 Open your hearts to us: we wronged no man, we corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man.

7:3 I say it not to condemn [you]: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die together and live together.

7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying on your behalf: I am filled with comfort, I overflow with joy in all our affliction.

7:5 For even when we were come into Macedonia our flesh had no relief, but [we were] afflicted on every side; without [were] fightings, within [were] fears.

< 7:6 Nevertheless he that comforteth the lowly, [even] God, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

7:7 and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort wherewith he was comforted in you, while he told us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced yet more.

7:8 For though I made you sorry with my epistle, I do not regret it: though I did regret [it] (for I see that that epistle made you sorry, though but for a season),

7:9 I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing.

7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, [a repentance] which bringeth no regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

< 7:11 For behold, this selfsame thing, that ye were made sorry after a godly sort, what earnest care it wrought in you, yea what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation, yea what fear, yea what longing, yea what zeal, yea what avenging! In everything ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter.

7:12 So although I wrote unto you, I [wrote] not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be made manifest unto you in the sight of God.

7:13 Therefore we have been comforted: And in our comfort we joyed the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit hath been refreshed by you all.

7:14 For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame; but as we spake all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth.

7:15 And his affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.

< 7:16 I rejoice that in everything I am of good courage concerning you.

9:1 For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:

9:2 for I know your readiness, of which I glory on your behalf to them of Macedonia, that Achaia hath been prepared for a year past; and your zeal hath stirred up very many of them.

9:3 But I have sent the brethren, that our glorying on your behalf may not be made void in this respect; that, even as I said, ye may be prepared:

9:4 lest by any means, if there come with me any of Macedonia and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be put to shame in this confidence.

9:5 I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your aforepromised bounty, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty, and not of extortion.

< 9:6 But this [I say,] He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

9:7 [Let] each man [do] according as he hath purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that ye, having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto every good work:

9:9 as it is written, He hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the poor; His righteousness abideth for ever.

9:10 And he that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness:

< 9:11 ye being enriched in everything unto all liberality, which worketh through us thanksgiving to God.

9:12 For the ministration of this service not only filleth up the measure of the wants of the saints, but aboundeth also through many thanksgivings unto God;

9:13 seeing that through the proving [of you] by this ministration they glorify God for the obedience of your confession unto the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of [your] contribution unto them and unto all;

9:14 while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, long after you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you.

10:1 Now I Paul myself entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am of good courage toward you:

10:2 yea, I beseech you, that I may not when present show courage with the confidence wherewith I count to be bold against some, who count of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh

10:4 (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds),

10:5 casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ;

< 10:6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full.

10:7 Ye look at the things that are before your face. If any man trusteth in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ's, so also are we.

10:8 For though I should glory somewhat abundantly concerning our authority (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for casting you down), I shall not be put to shame:

10:9 that I may not seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.

10:10 For, His letters, they say, are weighty and strong; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.

< 10:11 Let such a one reckon this, that, what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such [are we] also in deed when we are present.

10:12 For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with certain of them that commend themselves: but they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding.

10:13 But we will not glory beyond [our] measure, but according to the measure of the province which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even unto you.

10:14 For we stretch not ourselves overmuch, as though we reached not unto you: for we came even as far as unto you in the gospel of Christ:

10:15 not glorying beyond [our] measure, [that is,] in other men's labors; but having hope that, as your faith groweth, we shall be magnified in you according to our province unto [further] abundance,

< 10:16 so as to preach the gospel even unto the parts beyond you, [and] not to glory in another's province in regard of things ready to our hand.

10:17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

10:18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

11:1 Would that ye could bear with me in a little foolishness: but indeed ye do bear with me.

11:2 For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you [as] a pure virgin to Christ.

11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.

11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or [if] ye receive a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or a different gospel, which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with [him].

11:5 For I reckon that I am not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

< 11:6 But though [I be] rude in speech, yet [am I] not in knowledge; nay, in every way have we made [this] manifest unto you in all things.

11:7 Or did I commit a sin in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I preached to you the gospel of God for nought?

11:9 and when I was present with you and was in want, I was not a burden on any man; for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my want; and in everything I kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and [so] will I keep [myself].

11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this glorying in the regions of Achaia.

12:1 I must needs glory, though it is not expedient; but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

12:2 I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not; or whether out of the body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up even to the third heaven.

12:3 And I know such a man (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know not; God knoweth),

12:4 how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

12:5 On behalf of such a one will I glory: but on mine own behalf I will not glory, save in [my] weaknesses.

< 12:6 For if I should desire to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I shall speak the truth: but I forbear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me [to be], or heareth from me.

12:7 And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch.

12:8 Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

12:9 And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

12:10 Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

< 12:11 I am become foolish: ye compelled me; for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing was I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I am nothing.

12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works.

12:13 For what is there wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the churches, except [it be] that I myself was not a burden to you? forgive me this wrong.

12:14 Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a burden to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

12:15 And I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?

< 12:16 But be it so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

12:17 Did I take advantage of you by any one of them whom I have sent unto you?

12:18 I exhorted Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? walked we not in the same spirit? [walked we] not in the same steps?

12:19 Ye think all this time that we are excusing ourselves unto you. In the sight of God speak we in Christ. But all things, beloved, [are] for your edifying.

12:20 For I fear, lest by any means, when I come, I should find you not such as I would, and should myself be found of you such as ye would not; lest by any means [there should be] strife, jealousy, wraths, factions, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults;

< 12:21 lest again when I come my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed.

13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. At the mouth of two witnesses or three shall every word established.

13:2 I have said beforehand, and I do say beforehand, as when I was present the second time, so now, being absent, to them that have sinned heretofore, and to all the rest, that, if I come again, I will not spare;

13:3 seeing that ye seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me; who to you-ward is not weak, but is powerful in you:

13:4 for he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him through the power of God toward you.

13:5 Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate.